TreeHouse
by MBC-Fan
Summary: Tami and Amber find each other behind a sacred tree. They help each other trough their hard lives and become the best of friends. They make amazing discoveries on remarkable adventures. But what would happen it the adventures when too far? R&R please.
1. The Secret Door

**Chapter 1:**

**The Secret Door**

**I hated moving. Period. Sometimes I never fit in, well, almost all the time. And moving to America would be hard, since I was from England.**

"**Mum, do we have to come here? I won't know a soul!" I complained, wishing I was back in Durham. **

"**Yes, sweetheart, we do. America is a better place to start our lives over," she said, keeping her eyes on the road.**

"**But—"**

"**I don't want to hear it, Amber,"**

**I sighed and folded my arms across my chest and looked out the window at the pouring rain.**

**I fixed my faded denim jeans that had holes in the knees and embroidered back pockets.**

**I hated my looks.**

**I hated my style.**

**I hated myself, for the most part.**

**People always say they wish they were skinny like me, telling my I need to eat more because I was so skinny, and even worse by talking about my height. I was 5'4'' and people told me to stop growing.**

**I knew it was a joke, but I still didn't like it, not one bit.**

**After a long period of silence, mother finally spoke.**

"**Here we are," she said joyfully as we pulled into the driveway towards a crummy old Victorian house with peeling paint, open windows, chipped frames, and a nasty odor.**

**I walked to the back of the van to grab my bags.**

**Out went the blue-and-black polka-dot suitcase, my silver-and-black striped purse, and my tennis bag. I had to heave them all across the front yard, up the steps, and in the front door.**

**Climbing up the long, twisted stairway to the right of the front door against the wall, I found a hallway about halfway up, and decided to pick my bedroom.**

**Lugging my bags with me, I found a room at the end of the hall that was fairly large, had a bed with white canopies and sheets to my left, white dressers and cabinets to my right, a mirror beside the bed, a large window across from the door, and a large-looking closet.**

**Turns out it's a walk-in closet with many old-fashioned clothes.**

**I set my suitcase beside the bed by the short dresser, my purse on the bed as well as my tennis bag, and walked around the room, exploring.**

**I opened the closet door to see bundles of old-fashioned clothes and shoes. I went all the way to the back, looking at all the dresses. Red dresses, blue velvet dresses, white silk dresses, and best of all—black dresses.**

**Not looking where I was going, I smacked into the wall, causing me to fall on my butt.**

"**Ow," I muttered.**

**But that's when I noticed it.**

**A doorknob in the wall.**

**A doorknob to a secret door.**


	2. Tami

**Chapter 2**

**Tami**

**Putting my hand on the knob, I turned it.**

**As the door opened, bright sunlight poured upon my slender figure, covering my in light, which meant that I had to shield my eyes to see clearly.**

**Out in the distance was a small river, surrounded by trees along the edge. I saw a forest with trees having auburn, yellow, red, orange, and brown leaves strewn upon the branches.**

**It was a beautiful sight to behold. **

**And in the distance I could faintly hear the call of a blue jay.**

**Looking down, I saw a ladder, and thought, "What the heck?" So I climbed down it, excited to see what was beyond the river.**

**Stepping off the ladder and over some dead leaves, I made my way to the running river. Hearing the calls of birds from far off, the sound of rustling leaves and the running river water, I for once felt content, at peace.**

**I stopped where the tree line ended and slid down the small hill to the edge of the river.**

**Rolling my jeans above my hiking boots, I trailed across the river, some of the water sinking into my boots, making me shiver even though the sun was shining brightly. **

**Finally making my way across the river, I rolled down my jeans again over my boots and continued walking.**

**Looking to my left I saw an open field of wildflowers. To my right I saw another river, yet this one was smaller.**

**I kept walking straight ahead.**

**Suddenly I stopped and listened.**

**I heard a sound.**

**No.**

**Crying.**

**I looked over behind the nearest trees to see where it was coming from. And behind one of them I saw a girl, about my age, in a comfy green sweater, denim overalls, and cowgirl boots. Her bright carrot orange-red hair hung in long braids over her shoulders, and when she looked up at me, I saw her freckled-face was wet with tears.**

"**Who're you?" she asked.**

"**I'm Amber. What's the matter?"**

"**Nothing is wrong," she lied, wiping her face with her sleeve.**

"**No, I know something is wrong. You were crying. Now," I said, taking a seat beside her on some dead leaves, "what is the problem?"**

"**Well, my friends from elementary school don't like me anymore ever since we all started middle school, my teachers all hate me, my parents are divorced, and I'm all alone in this world..." And as her voice trailed off, I looked at her face, and it was covered in wet tears.**

"**There, there," I said softly, taking the over-sized sleeve of my baggy long-sleeved brown shirt to wipe off her tear-covered face. "It's alright, I'm here now. What's your name?"**

**She sniffled, "Tami. Tami Thompson," **

"**Nice to meet you, Tami! I have a question; would you like to be my friend? I don't have any because I just moved here."**

**She beamed at me.**

"**You really mean it?"**

**I nodded, smiling at her.**

"**Then I'd love to,"**

**She wrapped her small arms around my thin waist in an emotional embrace, and I wrapped and arm around her shoulders, smiling.**

"**Amber, is it?"**

"**Yeah,"**

"**Would you like to come over for dinner? My dad's serving his famous pepperoni and sausage pizza he makes," she smiled widely, and I just couldn't resist the offer, especially if it's from a new friend.**

"**I'd love to!" I smiled at her.**

"**Great!" she smiled back and stood to her feet, offering me a helping hand to stand. I took her hand and helped myself up.**

"**We'll meet back here at this tree at six o'clock, right?" I asked. **

"**How will we know it was this tree?" she asked back, a questioning look on her face.**

"**By this," I took off my yarn bracelet that I had made with two pieces of blue yarn and one piece of black yarn and tied it to a low branch.**

"**There we go!" I exclaimed.**

"**Wow, that's a good idea!" she beamed.**

"**See you here?" I asked.**

"**See you here," she said.**

**We walked our separate ways.**


	3. And so it Begins

**Chapter 3**

**And so it Begins**

**Picking up my pace, I began to break into a heavy sprint to my old Victorian house. When I finally entered the house through the back door, I saw my mother cutting up carrots.**

"**Mum! Mum! You'll never believe what just happened!" I shouted with a burst of energy, jumping up and down.**

**She laughed, "What happened, Amber?"**

"**I met this girl, her name is Tami Thompson, and she invited me over for dinner with her dad! He's making pepperoni and sausage pizza!"**

**My mom's happy and care-free expression went blank.**

**We stood there in silence.**

**And with the knife in my mother's hand, I thought she might cut me to bits if I left home.**

**After a long period of silence, she spoke with a smile.**

"**Be home by seven-thirty, Amber, please," she said.**

"**I will! Oh, thank you, mother!" I wrapped my bony arms around her curvy waist in an embrace and rushed out the back door once more. Forgetting what I was going to ask, I poked my head into the door.**

"**Hey, mother, what time is it?"**

"**Five forty-seven. Why?"**

"**I need to be at Tami's house at six!"**

**Closing the door behind me I ran to where me and Tami had met.**

*** * ***

**As I came closer to the tree, I saw her standing there, in the same outfit and same braids as she was wearing when I found her.**

"**Tami!" I shouted to get her attention.**

**She turned and smiled at me as I caught up with her.**

**Breathing hard, I knelt down beside the tree to lean against the hard bark.**

"**There you are! I thought you'd never come!" Tami said.**

"**Well, I'm here," I said, smiling up at her as I stood back on my feet.**

"**Great!" Tami said as she grabbed my arm and led my to her house.**

**It was beautiful. Bright, white paint, pale blue frames around the windows and a matching door, a wreath on the door, and a huge front yard with wildflowers here and there.**

"**Well, this is my house," she said.**

"**Wow...compared to yours, mine is crummy," I said, feeling like I've met a new component. But no. I was her friend, and that's the way it should be.**

"**Haha, thanks! But yours is Victorian, and I love those kinds of houses!" she stood there, her braids lifting slightly off her shoulders as the breezy winds blew behind us, her eyes closed as she took in a deep breath, and let it out slowly. **

**She opened her eyes and looked at me. They were the deepest green I'd ever looked into. Mine were a light shade of olive.**

"**Want to see my dog?" she asked, her dark green eyes twinkling with adventure.**

"**Sure, why not?" I said, smiling at her.**

**She took my arm again and led me to the fairly large backyard with wildflowers _everywhere_.**

"**This is my backyard," she explained, "so there's a garden to your right," she pointed it out, "a pond to your left, and a dog house near the back right hand corner of the yard."**

"**It's so..._big_!"**

"**Yeah, Murphy needs a lot of space," she said.**

"**Murphy?" I asked.**

"**Murphy! Here boy!" she called out to the empty space.**

**Suddenly out of nowhere a huge golden retriever came out of the little dog house and came running towards us, it's legs pumping with bursts of energy.**

**It barked at me as it encircled me, sniffing me, licking me all over, epsecially on my hands.**

**I laughed, "Hey, Murphy,"**

"**Yep, that's Murphy for you!" said Tami.**

**The back screen door opened and a tall, slender man with black shaggy hair, a white oxford shirt with stains on it, black slacks, and black tennis shoes.**

"**Girls, dinner!" he called out to us from the porch.**

"**Coming, Dad!" Tami called back with her hands cupped around her mouth. Then she turned to me and smiled, "Come on, it's dinner time!"**

"**Okay!" I said, hungry for a good meal.**

**We rushed in through the screen door and took a seat at the nice round table. I obviously sat close to Tami, since we were now friends.**

"**Thank you for letting me have dinner with you," I said politely.**

"**No problem," Tami's dad said, smiling. "We always allow visitors, especially if they're Tami's friends," he then took a huge bite out of his pizza slice.**

"**Yum!" Tami munched happily on her pizza.**

"**I know, it's really good!" I told her, taking another bite.**

"**That's why I call it 'The Famous P&S Pizzaroni!'" **

**We both laughed.**

"**Hey, Dad, after we finish our pizza slices, can Amber and I go outside to the forest?" Tami asked her dad, making the biggest, cutest, most irrisistible begging eyes she could muster.**

"**I guess," he said, "but don't be out after seven forty,"**

"**I have to be home by seven thirty," I told Tami sadly.**

"**That's okay, we have an hour!" she said happily.**

"**I guess we do!"**

**We both ate our pizzas in a hurry to go explore.**

**Finishing up both pizzas, I followed Tami our the back door and into the forest. We headed to the tree on which had the string from earlier. When we finally found it, I offered up a challenge.**

"**Want to see who can go the highest?" I asked with a smug look on my face.**

"**You're on," she said with a smirk.**

**And so it began.**


End file.
